Obama Shouldn't Stem Research on Cells

Obama's campaign was anchored in change, change, change, and the public will expect nothing less. Beginning January 20, the pressure will be on to decide whether he is indeed capable of the promises he made in areas such as helathcare, education and the economy. Althought the economy tops the list os concerns currently voiced by Obama and the rest of the country, another stands out as a major issue: the topic of embryonic stem cell research.

In 2001, Prisident Bush limited the number of embryonic stem cell lines to be harvested and researched. He supported the research but echoed conservatives. Human life begins at conception and, in their eyes, destryoing these embryos for research is morally wrong.
http://www.dailytrojan.com/opinion/1.1297922

Bill Introduced to Expand Embryonic Stem Cell Research

Less than a year after similar legislation died in Congress, lawmakers introduced a bipartisan bill in both chambers Wednesday that would promote embryonic stem cell research to help find cures for dieases such as cancer and Alzheimer's. The legislation would expand the number of sttem cell lines derived from unused embryos that are available for federally-funded research.
The bill stipulates that embryos can be used for federally funded stem cell reserach reguardless of the date of their creation, but it requires that only embryos originally created for fertility treatment would be used. It also askes for the beneficiaries of the treament to provide written consent for donation.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/search/content/shared/news/nation/stories/0217_STEM_CELL.html

First Lady Defends Limits on Stem Cell Research

Mrs. Bush told an audience of about 300 supporters, many of them doctors and nurses;"I hope that stem cell research will yeild cures and therapies for a myriad of illnesses, but I know tha embryonic stem cell research is very preliminary and the impication that cures for Alzheimer's are around the corner is just now right, and it's really not fair to the peoplewho are watching a loved one suffer from this disease."

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B01EFDC1E3CF933A2575BC0A9629C8B63

Limits on Stem-Cell Research Re-emerge as a Political Issue

Embryonic stem cell studies are contorversial because they involve the destruction of human embryos. Mrs. Reagan, whose husband, former President Ronald Reagan, suffers from Alheimers disease, had made her support for the research know but had never spoken publicly about it.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C06E2DA1F3DF935A35756C0A9629C8B63&scp=8&sq=%20stem%20cell%20research%20&st=cse

Stem Cells

This article talks about how undifferentiated cells are developing into more than the 200 types of cells the adult human body holds. Scientists say that one day stem cells may be used to replace or repair damaged cells, and can also have the potential to drastically change the treatment of conditions like cancer, Alheimer's and Parkinson's disease and even paralysis. Most research has been conducted on embryonic stem cells lines -- cultures of cells derived from four or five day old embryos, or fertilized cells. People that are against the use of embryos in stem cell research, which often uses embryos dicarded by fertility clinics, want it to be severely restricted or banned outright as inhumane.

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/stemcells/index.html?scp=1-spot&sq=stem%20cell%20research&st=cse

Court Upholds susupension of Student in Video Case

A student, at Kentridge High School, was not the one who filmed his teacher, Joyce Mong, in her English class. He did get suspended for being a part in making the film though. The film mocked the clutter around her classroom and also mocked her hygiene, it also captured some unbecoming angles.
His suspension had begun on May 8. He is scheduled to graduate on June 16. Now he can take part in the ceremony only if he completes a research paper on secual harassment that would cut the suspension in half.
He is known for his skills as a video editor, and the school officials suspended him largely based on comments by fellow students who said he either helped make the vido or edited it online. He does not appear in the film.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/23/us/23video.html?scp=1&sq=myspace%20punishment%20at%20school%20&st=cse

Student Speech Right in the Digital Age

For several decades courts have struggled to determine when, if ever, public schools should have the power to restrict student expression that does not occur on school grounds during school hours. In the last several years, courts have struggled with this same question in a new context - the digital media. The dramatic increase in the number of student speech cases involving the Internet, mobile phones, and video cameras begs for a closer examination of the scope of school officials' authority to censor the expression of minors as well as the scope of juvenile speech rights generally. This Article takes a close look at all the various justifications for limiting juvenile speech rights and concludes that none of them supports granting schools broad authority to limit student speech in the digital media, even with respect to violent or harassing expression. Furthermore, this Arrticle argues that the tests most courts and commentators have applied to determine whether a school may control student speech grant schools far too much authority to restrict juvenile speech rights. The Article concludes that the primary approach schools should take to most digital speech is not to punish or restrict such expression, but instead to educate students about how to use digital media responsibly.

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1112789